"Higher-order functions are the very essence of functional programming languages – they breathe fire into the belly of the code." – Joe Armstrong

Monday, May 19, 2008

Wigs for Kids

I promise both my readers that I'll get back to first-class procedures soon. I'd like to talk about something else before that post will be ready.

Hippy / Alfalfa

I periodically donate my hair to an organization called Wigs for Kids. It was time for me to do it again this past weekend. I do it every 2 years or so. The basic idea is that you donate a 12 inch or longer ponytail of hair, and you help out some kid by giving them a wig if they have no hair, such as from the results of chemotherapy.

Hippy Side / Mullet

Chemotherapy was sadly appropriate to this particular donation. As my wife Jenn and I were getting ready to leave that morning, we learned that our good friend Travis Nixon (RedToenail blog) had died the night before. He had had cancer for years, and had recently taken a downturn, but it was still a shock. The fact that this occurred the evening before we had already planned to donate hair to some unknown person, who (like Travis) has been diagnosed with cancer far too early in life, is the sort of thing that supernaturally-minded people often seem to see as especially significant in some way that's never been exactly clear to me (as a secular person). That's not a dig against religious people -- my mind is just focused on these sorts of topics at the moment.

Clippers

In any case, I'm grateful to our friend Kevin Farrell for doing the actual cutting. I think he did quite a good job. He refused to take any money, which speaks well of his character, but we hid some cash at the register while he was sweeping.

The Kevins

If you're able to grow your hair to the appropriate length, you might want to look into doing something similar. It's not addressing the root of the problem in any medical way, but I figure if we can do something that provides some comfort to a sick person with so little effort, it's a worthwhile thing to do.